Alison Brie

Alison Brie emerged as one of Hollywood's most sought-after television actresses after playing a sultry coed on the eccentric comedy series "Community" (NBC, 2009- ), about a group of misfits who shar...
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Actress Yvette Nicole Brown is leaving her role on cult TV comedy Community in order to care for her ailing father. Brown has played Shirley Bennett on the series since 2009, but she announced on Tuesday (30Sep14) that she will not be joining her fellow castmates for the upcoming sixth season, and requested to be released from her contract to focus on caring for her sick dad.
She tells TV Guide Magazine, "My dad needs daily care and he needs me. The idea of being away 16 hours a day for five months, I couldn't do it. It was a difficult decision for me to make, but I had to choose my dad.
"I can't say enough how much I respect Sony and (executive producer) Dan (Harmon) for how they handled this profound change in my life... I'm still Community's biggest fan... It's very bittersweet. I can take care of my dad but won't be with my TV family. I don't want the fans to worry; it's going to be fine."
Brown is also currently working on the remake of classic sitcom The Odd Couple, starring Matthew Perry.
Meanwhile, Community stars including Joel McHale, Alison Brie and Ken Jeong are all slated to return for the show's sixth season, which will stream on Yahoo! Screen, after it was cancelled by bosses at America's NBC network after five seasons.

Vivian Zink/NBC
U.S. comedy Community is to be revived online after executives at NBC brought down the axe on the show last month (May14).
Producers at the network decided against re-commissioning Joel McHale's critically-acclaimed show for a sixth season, but now fans will able to catch up with the alumni of Greendale Community College on the Internet.
A new 13-episode run will air on Yahoo Screen later this year (14). Community creator Dan Harmon, who will return as executive producer, says, “I am very pleased that Community will be returning for its predestined sixth season on Yahoo. I look forward to bringing our beloved NBC sitcom to a larger audience by moving it online."
McHale kept things simple while tweeting fans the good news, writing, "Sixth season. #CommunitySixthSeason."
The series also featured Chevy Chase, Ken Jeong, Alison Brie and actor/rapper Donald Glover. Community launched in 2009.

Jason Sudeikis was given a shock when two female intruders reportedly walked onto his movie set and stripped off all their clothes. The former Saturday Night Live funnyman was shooting his new film Sleeping With Other People with actress Alison Brie in a New York bar in the early hours of Friday (27Jun14), when two women reportedly marched onto the set and disrobed.
Editors at New York Post's gossip column Page Six obtained a picture which appears to show the two females standing naked in the bar. A source adds of the incident, "A woman walked onto the set, whipped off her top and bared her breasts, then pulled down her pants and mooned the cast and crew."
A friend then joined her moments later. The insider adds, "The women both walked back onto the set completely naked, except one of them was carrying a little red handbag. Everyone on the crew, including Jason, was dumbfounded and open-mouthed."

NBC Universal Media
Community was a well-loved show for many reasons, chief of which was the fact that in the midst of all its oddball genre-bending and crazy twists of fate, it never lost sight of itself as a truly character-driven show. And as such, five seasons (though sadly not the infamous "six seasons and a movie"... yet) saw the members of Greendale's favorite study group through the ups and downs of quite a lot of personal growth: now, without further ado (and in chronological order) here are some of our favorites!
1. When Troy gets the courage to get up on stage in "Interpretive Dance"
Early Season 1, Troy was still wrestling with his ultra-masculine identity as a former high school sports star, struggling (with the help of Abed) to get in touch with his creative side. Well, here he found it with dance, and Britta provides him with the perfect opportunity to be masculine and a dancer.
2. When Annie finally stands up to Troy in "Football, Feminism, and You"
Yes, it's a tad lacking in terms of social graces (she terrorizes Troy and his date as she takes back her grandmother's quilt, all whilst wearing an open-backed hospital gown), but it was still a real development for the love-stricken Annie.
3. When Annie and Britta make peace with their mutual jealousy in "The Psychology of Letting Go"
After competing for donations for oil spill clean-up (a competition which involved impersonating each other and some light oil wrestling), Annie and Britta are finally able to clear the air re: their Jeff Winger-induced rivalry.
4. When Troy embraces his nerd side in "Epidemiology"
Caught between the carefully constructed Aliens homage and a desire to appear cool, Troy is finally able to eschew all notion of coolness, and storm into that infamous zombie-riddled Halloween party in cardboard armor, armed with fake weapons.
5. When Abed accepts the group as his new family in "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas"
Abed's mother abandoning him took a huge toll on him, but a fantastical claymation adventure helps him realize that there are a lot of people who really care about him.
6. When Pierce puts each study group member to the test in "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking"
Jeff finally admits he has unfinished business with his father, Shirley lets go of some of her insecurities about her status within the group, and Britta is able to make peace with the disparity between her aspirations to be selfless and her actual self-centeredness. Oh, and Troy meets Levar Burton!
7. When Annie helps Abed realize that he'll always have a place in their group in "Virtual Systems Analysis"
It's actually kind of a beautiful scene – she's able to convince him that he can't retreat to his Dreamatorium in lieu of the real world; that, like her, he can't try to control everything. She also reminds him that he'll always be able to find acceptance somewhere: that he'll never find himself stuffed into someone's locker again.
8. When Pierce makes peace with his half-brother in "Digital Estate Planning"
Pierce was always a petulant man-child, so his attitude towards Gilbert (A.K.A. Gus Fring!) after learning he was his half-brother was surprisingly sweet.
9. When Jeff stands up to his father in "Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations"
Jeff's emotional reunion with his father tugs at the heartstrings, but at the end of the episode, he realizes he's found his true family in his study group.
10. When the group (along with a pill-induced G.I. Joe hallucination) help Jeff make peace with turning 40 in "G.I. Jeff"
We've always known Jeff was vain, but taking "Age Reverse Life Extend Power" pills? The group knew how to get him to laugh about it with a "It's a OLD boy" mug, courtesy of the hospital gift shop.
There are countless more instances of character breakthroughs on the show – what are some of your favorites? Share in the comments!
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Funnyman Joel Mchale's critically-acclaimed U.S. comedy Community has been cancelled after five seasons. Just days after McHale hosted the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C. his show has been axed. The series also featured Chevy Chase, Alison Brie and actor/rapper Donald Glover.

NBC
And with one last cafeteria dance party, Greendale has once again been saved, and Community has almost reached its ultimate goal of six seasons and a movie.
But the group’s hard-earned victory felt somewhat hollow, and the fifth season was brought to a close in a particularly lackluster way. Despite last week’s episode, “Basic Story” setting up a slightly different, more interesting take on the idea of the study group contemplating moving on and growing up, the finale threw all of those developments out the window for what turned out to be their most formulaic adventure yet. In fact, lackluster the best way to sum up season five as a whole, which got off to a great start, but seemed to fall flat after losing Troy and Pierce.
Since “Basic Sandwich” brings to a close a season surrounded by controversy and media attention, it seems only fair to look back on all of the episodes to see what worked, what didn’t and what we think Community can improve in the event that get the season we’ve been waiting for.
Worked: Duncan and Hickey The loss of Troy and Pierce left the study group somewhat off-balance, but Duncan and Hickey were the ideal replacements for two of the gang’s most important members. Like Donald Glover, John Oliver has the ability to deliver almost every punch line perfectly, and so he’s given this season some of its best and weirdest jokes. Jonathan Banks has also made a great addition to the group, giving their adventures some edge and playing the “grumpy older man” role with hilarious results. We’re not sure if they’ll be back next year, as both are committed to other series, but we sincerely hope they are. After all, we still need to find out how Hickey’s gay son’s wedding went.
Didn’t Work: The Finale The fifth season kicked off with “Repilot,” which allowed the show to start over again from a fresh, new perspective, which is why it makes no sense for the show to end on another push of the reset button. What’s the point of setting up interesting storylines or putting the characters through major changes of everything’s going to be wiped away at the end of the season with some Dave Matthews Band? The whole point of this season was to rebuild the show after the “gas leak,” and so ending up at the same place we started essentially renders everything that happened this year pointless.
Worked: Abed Abed was by far the MVP of Season 5, and his combination of meta commentary and heart gave the show some much-needed life this year. Between his heartbreaking goodbye to Troy and his long, rambling monologue about Britta and Jeff’s spinoff in “Basic Sandwich,” Abed continues to be one of the show’s strengths, and he has truly become the heart and soul of Community. Plus, he does the best Nicolas Cage impression we’ve ever set eyes on.
Didn’t Work: Lack of Shirley Her relationships with the other members of the study group have given the show some of its best episodes and most iconic moments, but the fifth season of Community saw Shirley shunted to the side in favor of the other characters. She never once received a story line of her own, and all of the things we’ve learned about her over the years – her devotion to her family, her dedication to her business, her secret foosball past – were touched upon at all this year. It’s not enough to simply reference her lack of screen time. You need to actually give her some more attention in order for it to work.
Worked: Higher Stakes This year’s highlights came whenever the characters dealt with big issues: the loss of two of their own, the threat of mortality, life turning out differently than they expected, and having to leave behind their safety net. These stories provided the funniest moments and the cleverest parodies and gave the fifth season some much needed weight. We’re hoping the writers will bring keep exploring bigger issues in the sixth season, as everything gets a little more serious now that the study group understand what failure in the real world feels like.
Didn’t Work: Jeff/Annie/Britta Look, we don’t care if he dates Britta, Annie, both or neither, but the show needs to either follow through with this plot or let it go completely. We can’t suffer through any more of Jeff and Annie pining over each other, and while we love Britta and Jeff’s bickering, their fake-out attempts at a relationship are losing their charm. Pick a direction and stick with it, and please, spare us all any more will-they-or-won’t-they-is-this-a-love-triangle-or-are-they-all-just-friends nonsense.
Only Kind of Worked: Season 4 Bashing We get it: Dan Harmon hates Season 4. It’s understandable. But while we loved the small references to the issues everyone had with those episodes, much of this season felt like Harmon was just attempting to prove how much better he is at running Community than everyone else. The parody episodes felt less like homages than an opportunity to showcase how much better his references were, and many of the characters’ plots felt like a deliberate attempt to undo everything the show runners of season four came up with. Now that we’ve all made peace with the past, how about we just look forward for season six, and allow everyone to just move on. (We're still on board with the gas leak idea, though.)
Still Doesn’t Work No Matter How Hard We Try: Chang Ken Jeong still has some brilliant moments, but Chang hasn’t felt like an organic part of the show since he was fired way back in season one. He flip-flops back and forth between good and evil as the story requires, but he doesn’t’ add anything to the show. If the writers can’t figure out a decent story for him for the next season, it might be best to just reduce his role to a recurring one, so that we get all of the best parts of Chang without him wearing out his welcome. Or just give him and Garret a spinoff. We’d watch every episode of that.
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The Internet has gifted the world with many wonderful things: quizzes that determine which pizza topping best represents your personality, an easy way to find out what Tom Hiddleston is up to, memes, and endless cat videos, just to name a few. But of all the Internet's gifts, the greatest is the ability to instantly communicate with people all around the world: GChat. But on Monday morning, the unthinkable happened. GChat crashed for several hours, resulting in the communication of users all over the world being temporarily suspended. There was no way to communicate with our bosses and co-workers, no way to procrastinate by talking with our friends, no way of reminding our family members to defrost tonight's dinner. How would we function? How would we fill this silence? Well, we decided to pass the time by taking a look at some of the most popular instances of communication failure in movies and television in order to put the loss of GChat in perspective.
Sandra Bullock Losing Communication with Mission Control, Gravity
Warner Bros via Everett Collection
When Communication Failed: She spiraled out into the dark, airless abyss of outer space. When GChat Failed: Your rage about last night's The Walking Dead was sent out into the empty void of the Internet, rather than your roommate.
Allison Lohman's Cell Battery Being Drained by a Demon, Drag Me to Hell
Universal via Everett Collection
When Communication Failed: She is attacked by said demon as part of a curse that was placed on her. When Gchat Failed: You were unable to find out if anyone in your office had a phone charger, and now you can't SnapChat anybody either.
The Ship's Radio Breaking in the Crash, Lost
ABC
When Communication Failed: They were unable to call for help, and stranded on a mysterious island for six seasons. When GChat Failed: You were unable to send your sister a BuzzFeed quiz, and thus will never know which Lost character she is. (Even though you know she's Anna Lucia. Boo.)
Indiana Jones Sabotaging the Zeppelin's Radio, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Paramount via Everett Collection
When Communication Failed: The crew discovered Jones' sabotage and he was unable to escape. When GChat Failed: You discovered subreddits you never needed to know existed.
Tom Hanks' Radio Transmitter Being Destroyed in the Storm, Cast Away
20th Century Fox via Everett Collection
When Communication Failed: He was stranded and forced to befriend a volleyball. When GChat Failed: You were forced to befriend your co-workers in order to talk about whatever they did over the weekends... ugh, all those stories about their kids...
The Study Group Losing Cell Signal in the Space Simulator, Community
NBCUniversal, LLC
When Communication Failed: They had to work together to land the simulated rocket, and learned not to talk back to computer systems. When GChat Failed: You found new, creative ways of cursing out your Internet connection.
Robert Shaw Destroying the Radio, Jaws
Everett Collection
When Communiation Failed: They were unable to call for help, and stranded on a sinking ship that was being attacked by an angry shark. When GChat Failed: You were unable to make plans for drinks tonight, and now you'll be stranded at home while everyone else has fun.
Brad Pitt Being Unable to Get Through to His Wife, World War Z
Paramount Pictures
When Communication Failed: She called him back at the worst possible moment and he was almost eaten by zombies. When GChat Failed: You were unable to send your friend the hilarious Parks and Recreation .gif you spent 20 minutes searching for. And she was almost eaten by zombies.
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"I never play risque roles. The only time I've ever done anything remotely sexual was in the first movie that I ever shot... The sex scene is me super-pregnant with demon spawn and while I'm having sex with this really hot Swedish guy, I get possessed... and my demon foetus inside me bites his penis off and he dies." Mad Men star Alison Brie on her bizarre movie debut, 2007's Born.

Game Of Thrones star Emilia Clarke has been named the Most Desirable Woman of 2014 in a new survey. The 26 year old English beauty nabbed the title in the AskMen.com poll, which was created to find the world's most in-demand females.
Community and Mad Men star Alison Brie comes in second, while model/actress Emily Ratajkowski earns a spot at number three, followed by last year's winner Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Watson.
Kate Upton, Kerry Washington, Amy Adams, Margot Robbie and Kate Moss all make the top 10.

Warner Bros. Pictures via Everett Collection
As the staggering success of The Lego Movie shows, it takes the right brand, the right studio, the right talent, all mixed together with luck to bring a toy brand to film success. Here are some of our favorite toys with robust, fan-fave concepts to inspire the next toy-inspired film franchises, from Play-Doh to Furby! To read the full story, check it out at Studio System News!

Began acting onstage at the Jewish Community Center in Southern California

Performed in the production of "Peach Blossom Fan" at Disney's Redcat Theatre in Los Angeles

Starred alongside Lizzy Caplan in comedy "Save the Date"

Appeared in the short film "Stolen Poem"

Summary

Alison Brie emerged as one of Hollywood's most sought-after television actresses after playing a sultry coed on the eccentric comedy series "Community" (NBC, 2009- ), about a group of misfits who share a Spanish study group at a fictional junior college. She first gained attention after landing a lead role in the critically acclaimed drama series "Mad Men" (AMC, 2007- ), as a haughty and conservative wife of an advertising executive who struggled with her inability to have children. Brie then joined the zany cast of "Community," and quickly earned an equally loyal following of both sexes who recognized her instinctive flair for comedy - all of which proved that she was ready to tackle more exciting and higher profile roles.